The Disappeared - Softcover

Braver, Adam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1944853340 ISBN 13: 9781944853341

Publisher: Outpost19, 2017

Synopsis

A novel of two strangers swept up in the aftermath of two politicized acts of violence. THE DISAPPEARED traces a pair of survivors: a woman whose husband is missing in a San Bernardino-type of attack, and a man who believes his sister was an unidentified victim of the '93 World Trade Center bombing. With a remarkable mix of nuance and momentum, Braver portrays their post-trauma experience in the face of relentless public feedback.

About this title

About the Author:

Adam Braver is the author of five novels (Mr. Lincoln’s Wars, Divine Sarah, Crows Over The Wheatfield, November 22, 1963, and Misfit). His books have been selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover New Writers program, Borders’ Original Voices series, the IndieNext list, and twice for the Book Sense list, as well as having been translated into French, Italian, Japanese, Turkish, and Russian. Braver’s fiction and essays have appeared in journals such as Daedalus, Ontario Review, Cimarron Review, Water-Stone Review, Harvard Review, Tin House, The Normal School, West Branch, The Pinch, and Post Road. He is on faculty and author-in-residence at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. He also teaches at the New York State Summer Writers Institute.

Review:

"Adam Braver’s vivid characters move through a haunted landscape―the world forever changed by terror―that has become all too familiar to many of us. This compelling and elegantly written novel charts the intersections of individual and collective grief, unfolding in unexpected ways. It is both profoundly personal and smartly political, a memorable page turner with urgent, resonant themes." ― Alix Ohlin, author of Signs and Wonder

"Braver’s novel is rich and humane, a tightly controlled, beautifully orchestrated portrait of contemporary terrors and the feedback loops of fear and paranoia they create that mesmerize us and, tragically, sometimes drive us mad. There are those that disappear in the violence, and those that disappear searching for them in their wakes, trying to make sense of insanity." ― Paul Harding, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"The Disappeared concerns itself with the collateral damage visited upon two families in the aftermath of politically motivated trauma. Its aim is to personalize the effects of foreign dissent, of national protest, of mere happenstance, of sheer bad luck. Its two lead characters pursue their faithful remembrance of those they lost, who, then, after all, have not disappeared. It is a strangely uplifting book, given its subject and the times we live in. Highly recommended." ― Antonya Nelson, winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story

"You have only to say four words ―'Adam Braver' and 'new book' ― and I’m already halfway to my nearest independent bookstore in search of a copy." ― David Abrams, author of Brave Deeds and Fobbit

"This latest novel from Braver (Misfit) has two story lines. Lucy is a young wife whose husband vanishes without a trace in a terrorist attack, while Edgar is fixated on the disappearance of his sister in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Lucy finds it difficult to deal with the notoriety of being the public face of the victims and the pressure from the government over trying the surviving terrorist. Edgar, whose mental state is frail following a savage beating some 20 years earlier, meets Lucy in a therapy jazz group. . . Braver's book works best as insight into loss, grief, and psychological frailty and insecurity." - Library Journal

Praise for Adam Braver

“Braver is a terrific writer, an observer of the most acute details; throughout the book, he traces the subtle interactions of his characters as they collide and move apart.” ― Los Angeles Times

“Braver has achieved more than a skillful retelling of a particularly morbid moment in American history. With its collage-like structure and postmodern blend of fact and fiction, November 22, 1963 raises fascinating questions about how we perceive history and the ways in which personal and collective experience intersect.” ― The Oregonian

“a blazingly original, brilliantly concretized historical novel from the author of Mr. Lincoln’s War”― ELLE

“. . .a captivating mix of fact and fiction. . . While the accumulation of small moments gives the book its weightiness, the stories of people peripherally associated with the assassination make the book sing.” ― Publisher’s Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Outpost19
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1944853340
• ISBN 13: 9781944853341
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272